Which College Majors Pay Best?

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September 30, 2011|Joyce Lain Kennedy, Career Q & A

DEAR JOYCE: I know I'm getting a late start, but at 21, I've become serious about getting my bachelor's degree. Which college majors pay best? I do worry about avoiding massive debt that I'll spend half my life trying to pay back. So I need to maximize my earning potential. -- V.G.

The 10 majors with the lowest median earnings are counseling/psychology, $29,000; early childhood education, $36,000; theology and religious vocations, $38,000; human services and community organizations, $38,000; social work, $39,000; drama and theater arts, studio arts, communication disorders sciences and services, visual and performing arts, and health and medical preparatory programs, each at $40,000.

The new report analyzes 171 majors in 15 categories. To read the entire study, Google "What's it Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors."

I'm glad you got the memo to avoid years of indentured servitude paying back sky-high education loans. Public colleges are your least expensive choices. And have you considered joining a military service to reap educational benefits and graduate from college without being swallowed up in debt?

DEAR JOYCE: My husband, out of work for nine months, seems to be in a funk and hardly leaves the house to look for a job now. Do you think he's in clinical depression? -- R.O.D.

DEAR R.O.D.: That's a question for a physician. In the meantime, uber career coaches Jack Chapman and Steve Frederick say that stress on people in a job search can significantly affect professional judgment and result in whacky behavior.

Jobless-stressed people do a lot of things they would never do while employed, such as: moping and wasting time, neglecting networking in favor of online applications, talking like a robot, not preparing for meetings and interviews, and engaging in frantic, unfocused activity.

Chapman and Frederick offer a free monthly newsletter, "One-Minute Career Letter," which features career tips and free monthly webinars. To sign up, go to lucrativecareersinc.com.

DEAR JOYCE: Have you written about how to use Twitter in a job search? -- R. U. R.

DEAR R.U.R.: Yes, but get a new primer on how to harness the power of Twitter to fuel your job search: "Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies," by Joshua Waldman. Chapter 12, "Uncovering the Hidden Job Market with Twitter," is just what you need.

DEAR JOYCE: Just how much deference must I show to an interviewer? Some of the interviewers I see are not very respectful, like they know we really need jobs. -- C.T.

DEAR C.T.: This isn't the economy to treat an interview as a two-way street in which you and the interviewer hold equal power. Unless you have an extremely rare and special skill that an interviewing company absolutely must acquire, you're working a one-way street, where you must sell an organization as to why it should hire you. You can move to a two-way street after you have a job offer to negotiate.

That said, don't behave like an inferior in a job interview. Participate as an equal, not as a subordinate of the person conducting the interview. Participating as an equal is a subtle matter of self-perception, affirming that you can do a superior job when hired.

DEAR J.W.: Here's one I like that's expressed as a question to the interviewer: "Who is your best employee, and why?" Listen carefully, and then respond, "That fits my qualifications like a glove. Clearly, I'm going to become your new best employee, because. ..." You can't use this approach effectively without advance research and rehearsal.

(E-mail career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at jlk@sunfeatures.com; use "Reader Question" for subject line. Or mail her at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007.) (C) 2009 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.